Still Bleeding
by AppleTop
Summary: An old case haunts Tim McGee and threatens to tear him and Sarah apart.
1. It Rained That Night

Sitting at the bar all alone wasn't her idea of a great night. The music pulsed and thrummed around her, as did the bodies on the dance floor. The glass she had been sipping from most of the night shook with the vibrations of the club. The flashing strobe lights was beginning to give her a headache and she wanted nothing more than to be out of there, off of that uncomfortable metal stool at the bar, and in her soft bed in the dorm.

"'It'll be a good time', Candy said," Sarah McGee muttered into her glass as she sipped the rest of her beverage down, "'You'll have a blast because it's healthy to get away from schoolwork sometimes', she told me."

Why had she taken up her best friend's offer to go clubbing? Probably just because Candy was her best friend. Though she was beginning to rethink that reasoning. Having glanced behind her several minutes ago, she had spotted Candy in the back making out with her boyfriend. Couldn't she just have done that somewhere on campus instead of dragging Sarah out somewhere when needed to be studying for her English final?

"Do you always talk to your drink when you're not having a good time?" asked a new voice.

Sarah looked up from her glass quickly, mildly startled, and studied the newcomer. He was a handsome man, tall with dark wavy hair and piercing brown eyes. His attire wasn't fitting for a college student, seeing as he was wearing a suit. This was a college hangout so Sarah raised an eyebrow at his slick suit and polished shoes. Everyone else was wearing short dresses or jeans so he stuck out like a sore thumb. Yet, nobody had really looked him over. It was as if their eyes passed over him and moved on when looking in his direction. None lingered at his sight.

"Ah, no," Sarah confessed as she blushed a rosy pink, "It's just that my best friend dragged me out of my dorm tonight and promptly ditched me here at the bar."

The man's eyes scanned the room before coming back to gaze at Sarah casually as she set down her glass, "I take it that she's the blond in the back, red shirt, boy's tongue down her throat?"

Sarah chuckled, turning in her seat toward him, "Yeah, that would be her and her boyfriend."

"Shame on her for leaving you here to fend for yourself," he smiled, showing off his gleaming white teeth, "How about we go somewhere else and have a little fun?"

Sarah hesitated for a moment. She really needed to get back to the dorm to study for her final…and there was so much that she needed to take care of…

As if he could read her mind, the man smirked as he looked her over, "You're going to waste all of that preparation?" Sarah glanced down at her green dress and heels before smiling back up at him, "That would be silly, wouldn't it?"

"Very."

"Alright, so where do you suppose we go?" Sarah raised her eyebrows at him curiously.

"I know a place that has some real entertainment, Miss…?"

"Sarah," she stood up, flashing him a grin, "Sarah McGee."

"Nice to meet you, Miss McGee," he offered her his arm in one sweeping gesture, "My name is Ryan Griffin."

* * *

_Well, that's strange_, thought Timothy McGee as he stared at his phone in confusion. He set it down on his desk before frowning even deeper than he already was. His sister, Sarah, had missed her weekly call for the first time. Keeping in touch regularly was important to the McGee siblings and Sarah had even worked out a schedule with him to where they could be on the phone without any interruptions at least once a week. Tim had been intent on telling her that they had to postpone their usual talk session until later, after he realized what time it was and he was still at the office. He had checked his phone, realizing there were no missed calls meaning Sarah hadn't called him. That was odd in itself, but when Tim had called her and she didn't pick up, he had felt a twinge of worry. Sarah always had her phone on and always answered. So instead of talking to her directly, he left a voicemail.

"Uh, hey sis, it's Tim. I just wanted to call and tell you that I'm working a case and will be in the office for most of the night so we'll have to postpone our usual Thursday night plan. Okay? Well, I have to go so…text me when you get this message, okay? Love you."

Having set his phone on his desk, Tim felt eyes scrutinizing him. He glanced around and his gaze landed on Tony, who was closely watching him, "What, Tony?" he ventured to ask.

"Nothing, McGee, I was just thinking about Sarah," shrugged Tony, giving the younger agent a sly look as he went back to his computer screen.

"Better get my sister out of your head, DiNozzo, I know what kind of things live up there," Tim shot him a dark look even though Tony didn't see it.

"Oh yeah, Probie? What do you think lives up there?" challenged Tony with rapt interest, "C'mon, tell me. Be honest."

"How about you be honest and tell me what you got on where our missing Marine is being held, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered as he rounded the entrance to the bullpen and headed for his desk. Any retort to Tony that Tim was going to say was lost as he went back to staring at his computer screen.

Tony began to rattle off what he had found before he had been enraptured in Tim's personal life. Tim listened on autopilot as he worked and thought about his little sister.

_She's probably knee-deep in whatever paper she's working on. You know her, once she gets started on something she'll tune everything else out 'til she gets finished_,Tim reassured himself, tapping his pen absentmindedly on the desk beside the phone that was staring up at him. _Just let her be, everything is fine. If there was something wrong, you'd know it. Just keep it calm, Tim. She's an adult now, she knows what to do if she's in trouble. Besides, she can take care of herself. _

His mental reassurances didn't make him feel any better. Something was stirring up and he could feel it in his proverbial gut. Maybe Gibbs was rubbing off on him or something, he supposed. Or maybe he was trusting his instincts more now, as Tony and Gibbs had taught him. Ziva always said that instincts are instrumental in staying alive. Even Kate had told him that instincts can come in handy.

Tim sighed and nearly threw down his pen as he began to type furiously on his keyboard. All he knew was that some sort of storm was upon them and it would hit soon. It definitely wasn't a good feeling and his stomach began to literally churn as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. If something did happen, he'd take care of it as he always did. He could handle anything that was thrown at him because he wasn't a green little Probie anymore, he was a seasoned agent.

At that moment, rain began to pound on the windows of the NCIS building.

* * *

"You're something else, Sarah," Ryan smiled down at her from under the umbrella, "How did you know it was going to rain?"

"My personal motto is 'always be prepared,'" Sarah smiled back, pulling her coat closer around her, "and…I watched the weather this morning." She laughed and he responded the same. From the first club, Ryan had taken her to another club a few blocks to the east where they listened to jazz and chatted about music and dance over cappuccinos.

Tim had gotten her into jazz at an early age. Sarah could remember when she was a little girl, Tim playing old records and teaching her to dance to it. That teaching had come into use when she and Ryan hit the dance floor.

Now they were standing outside the external door to the dorms under an umbrella in the pouring rain. The icy December wind blew around them, chilling Sarah's bare legs. The rain was freezing and her hair had gotten wet in the rush to get out the umbrella from her bag. They had walked from the club central back to the campus, giggling and splashing through puddles. Sarah clutched the umbrella and smiled up at Ryan in the light from the lamp that was attached to the wall beside the door. It cast a soft glow on them and Sarah was certain that her companion could see her blush, "I had a good time," Ryan spoke first, "More fun than I've had in a while."

Sarah nodded slowly, "So did I."

Ryan hesitated, "I suppose I should be going…Goodnight, Sarah." He leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Sarah felt her face grow hot as his lips retreated from her soft skin, "Goodnight, Ryan."

He turned away and then back to her, pulling out a piece of paper from his wallet and scribbling down something with a pen, "Here's my number. Let's talk sometime."

"Sure," Sarah nodded again, accepting the slip of paper to his satisfaction, and watched him walk away out into the rain once more.


	2. No Loose Ends

The sun rose slowly, making Tim sluggish in waking up. He glanced at his alarm clock and groaned when he saw what time it was. 0729. He had only half an hour to eat breakfast, get ready, maneuver through traffic, and be at his desk ready to work before Gibbs chewed him out. Great. Tim lifted his head from the pillow and thought that he must have forgotten to turn on his alarm clock last night since he arrived so late back home. It had been around 0100 when they had finally made a breakthrough on the case and then at 0230 they had found their missing Marine. At 0300, they had been allowed to go home, expected to report in as usual at 0800.

Sometimes scheduling at NCIS really did suck.

Fortunately, Tim knew that since they had a late-night bust, they would have a short day and would take most of the afternoon off. That was the only advantage of having Director Vance breathing down their necks. He understood how far you could push a team and without any sleep, they weren't going to get very far. He had implemented new policies about schedule times that Director Shepard hadn't bothered with, especially during the La Grenouille case.

Rolling out of bed, Tim grabbed his phone off of the bedside table where he had wearily set it the night before. He checked his inbox and read a text from Sarah. Sighing, he replaced it and left the room. Apparently, she had been studying all night. Typical Sarah behavior. He wondered why he had worried so much while he dug in the refrigerator for the bottle of orange juice in the back. His gut feeling hadn't went away all night and then now it was stuck in the back of his mind. Shaking his head at himself, he told himself that there was nothing to worry about. Sarah had been studying all night. Nothing was wrong.

He poured himself a glass of orange juice and got out a granola bar from one of the pantry cabinets. Taking a bite out of it, he began to get dressed and downed the orange juice. Twelve minutes later, he was in his car heading toward the Yard. As soon as he arrived, he ran to the elevator and nearly dove headfirst inside. Once the doors closed and he pressed the button, he was bouncing from foot to foot, ready to get out of the elevator and to his desk before Gibbs arrived. Once the doors slid open, Tim wasn't watching where he was going. He ran smack into a figure as large as him, coffee spilling, and papers from files flying everywhere.

Tim tumbled to the ground, entangled with the other man's limbs. He stood up quickly, assessing what had happened and staring in shock as the other man got to his feet.

"McGee," sneered the other man, "Long time no see."

"Griffin, what are you doing here?" Tim's mouth felt dry and his heart rate quickened.

"Receiving my new assignments," Griffin answered coolly, "I've been transferred back to DC."

"Why?"

"Because obviously I'm an asset that NCIS can't afford to lose," Griffin grinned at him dangerously as he picked up the papers that had scattered across the floor, "Wouldn't you agree, Agent McGee? I'm sure you haven't forgotten our last case together."

"I haven't forgotten," Tim's voice came out as a choked whisper.

"Excellent. Well, I better be going, the Director wants to see me as soon as possible," Griffin said, glancing down at his shirt that matched Tim's which was soaked with coffee, "But I'd better change shirts first. So should you, McGee. Wouldn't want Gibbs to see you like that."

Tim reflexively gazed at his shirt and inwardly groaned. Griffin took advantage of Tim's distraction and stepped into the elevator. Tim looked back up as the doors slid shut in front of Griffin. Flashes of a long-past memory came to mind as he briefly closed his eyes, the last glimpse of Ryan Griffin embedding itself into his psyche.

_Tim stepped into the large Director's office and closed the door behind him. He studied the situation quickly as he moved toward the large desk. A man a few years younger than himself and produced an almost tangible aura of confidence as he sat in one of the armchairs in front of Director Vance's desk. His legs were crossed at the knee and he rested his arms casually as Vance spoke to him. The Director himself glanced up at Tim when he approached and a small smile graced his lips. _

"_Agent McGee, this is Agent Griffin," Vance stood up, as did the suave young man. McGee nodded and extended his hand to Griffin, "Tim."_

"_Ryan, pleased to meet you."_

"_Have a seat, McGee," Vance gestured to the armchair beside Griffin's before sitting down himself. The agents exchanged a look before following suit and taking a seat, Griffin lounging as he had before and Tim sitting up straight, yet relaxing into the comfortable over-stuffed chair. _

"_I have a new assignment for the pair of you," Vance announced, "Agent Griffin, you have been called in from Los Angeles because Agent McGee has been transferred to Cybercrimes following the disbanding of his original team. Agent McGee, your current assignment of Cybercrimes is just a front for you during your undercover mission."_

"_Undercover mission, Director?" Tim raised his eyebrows in surprise. Of course, he had acted in a few situations and had been backup while Tony, Ziva, or Gibbs was undercover, but he had never been the one undercover. Thom E. Gemcity didn't exactly count either. _

"_Yes, McGee. This is your first undercover assignment, I know, but Agent Griffin here has experience and he will lead you through the ropes of how to conduct yourself," Vance nodded at both of them while handing them a file folder each, "This is your assignment."_

_Tim hesitated before opening the folder with CLASSIFIED stamped in red ink on the front. A few pictures were paper clipped on the back of the cover and one stood out more than the others in Tim's eye. It was a black and white picture of a young girl. She had long, dark, wavy hair and dark eyes. Her skin was nearly flawless and she had a good bone structure. The cleft in her chin and her other features startlingly made him think of his sister Sarah. The girl in the picture looked similar to her, but it definitely was not her. _

_He saw her picture again on the next page and read her name in the caption. _

"_Emma Jacobs," Tim spoke aloud. _

Tim shook the memory from his mind and hurried to the bullpen, where he almost launched himself into his desk chair. Tony glanced up at him, "What's got you spooked, McGee?"

"Ah, nothing," Tim answered after swallowing to control his shaking voice, "Just don't want to be late."

Ziva too looked over at him, "Fortunately, McGee, Gibbs has not arrived yet. Why are you covered in coffee?"

Tim turned a ruby red as he pulled out a spare shirt from his desk and began stripping off the wet one, "Ran into someone when getting out of the elevator."

He began to button up his shirt when his desk phone rang. He frowned and picked it up, "McGee."

"Agent McGee, I need to see you immediately."

Tim swallowed when he realized that it was Vance's voice on the line. He knew that it had to do with Ryan Griffin, it had to be about him and their previous case together.

"On my way," Tim answered before hanging up the phone. His teammates were watching him with curious looks, but Tim only finished buttoning up his shirt and headed out of the bullpen and up the stairs without saying anything else. He walked confidently to the Director's door, yet hesitated at the threshold. He took a deep breath and opened the door. A familiar scene flashed through his mind of him first meeting Ryan Griffin. It was the same picture now, but both agents were older and Vance did not look happy.

"Have a seat, Agent McGee," Vance instructed, voice hard. Silently, Tim sat in the armchair set in front of Vance's desk, unconsciously edging away from Griffin. He watched Vance as the older man drew a breath to speak.

"Emma Jacobs is dead."


End file.
